For the past 10 years, Text2Teach has provided educational visual aid materials to over 700,000 students in the Philippines. Photo courtesy of Microsoft.
Do mobile phones and education make a good pair? That is constant debate between parents and children, between teachers and students.
But more parts of the Philippines are seeing a sort of winning formula derived from bringing mobile phones into the classroom. For 10 years now, texting has actually been conscripted in aid teaching.
In 2003, the global BridgeIT program was pilot-tested in the Philippines. Locally branded “Text2Teach,” it involved the delivery of educational video materials to 81 schools in areas like Quezon City, Batangas, Cotabato City, and Cagayan de Oro. The materials piggybacked on mobile, satellite, and television technology—an effort devised jointly by Nokia, the Pearson Foundation, the United Nations Development Program, and the International Youth Foundation.
This year, Text2Teach becomes the longest-running BridgeIT program among the 12 countries it is implemented in.
“That’s a long time for a program and is certainly is a long time for any technology. You can imagine how mobile phones looked like 10 years ago and how they look today,” said Microsoft global lead for social investments Sanna Eskelinen.
At the 10th anniversary celebration of the Text2Teach program in the country, Eskelinen recalled how teachers would use Nokia 3310 devices to text the codes of videos they needed, and waited until they were downloaded through a satellite disc. Now, through the Microsoft Education Delivery (MED) installed in Lumia devices, educational programs can be accessible even in remote areas and even without reliable Internet connection.
Present during the celebration of Text2Teach’s 10th anniversary in the Philippines are (from left) Microsoft Devices sustainability manager Mei-Ling Tan, DepEd undersecretary for programs and projects Dina Ocampo; Ayala Corporation chairman and CEO Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala, and Microsoft Devices global lead for social investments Sanna Eskelinen. Photo courtesy of Microsoft.
“We have also renewed, improved, and evolved that technology that is used in the program,” Eskelinen added. “Now, 300 educational materials in Math, Science, English, and Values Education can be downloaded directly through mobile phones.” MED uses cloud technology, networks, applications, and mobile devices to deliver educational videos for Grade 5 and 6 students. The videos are used as teaching aids that wirelessly stream to televisions and projectors.
To mainstream the program to 38,000 public schools in the country, various groups have signified their commitment to Text2Teach. The Ayala Foundation will conduct capability-building training sessions in local Deped divisions to train teachers on program implementation. The DepEd will make the program materials available on its portal, while the DILG and ULAP will advocate the program’s benefits to local government units.
Each MED will include a Globe prepaid SIM and 32-inch Toshiba television for classroom use. So far, Text2Teach has reached 700,000 students and 16,000 teachers in 2,500 schools throughout the country.
DepEd ICT Coordinator Joy Navera shared how Text2Teach has contributed to the learning and community building in Ligao City, Albay. “Text2Teach really brought life to learning in our schools,” she said. “We saw the potential in Text2Teach to get our children to school, keep them in school, and make them perform.”
As the first DepEd division to implement the program in 2012, Navera said that Text2Teach has increased teacher-to-teacher collaboration, as well as pupil-to-pupil interaction. Aside from the increase in the city’s National Achievement Test (NAT) scores in English, Science, and Math, Navera said the program has also decreased dropout and absentee rates among students.
Microsoft Education Delivery (MED) has been installed in Lumia 630 phones and powered by Windows Phone 8.1 OS. It allows 300 educational videos in English, Science, Math, and Values Education available to teachers and students nationwide. Photo courtesy of Microsoft.
Community ownership, according to Navera, has allowed Text2Teach to be sustained in their area. “There is a better chance (for the project) to be sustained when we own the project,” she underscored. “It’s not just a project of the private sector; we own it. We consider it as our personal commitment to do more.”
“It’s not so that we say, ‘Okay, here’s the technology. Go ahead and be happy with it,” agreed Eskelinen. “I think the difference that sets Text2Teach as one of the example programs that we have is the fact that there is strong local ownership. I think it has been emphasized over and over at times. Still, cannot be overemphasized.
“We are not just talking about forming the materials for the mobile phone. We are also talking about changing the classroom environment, deeper practices. It takes time to really accept new ways. It does not mean that we’ve replaced the teachers and we’ve diminished their role. I would say that’s the farthest from the truth. In fact, we need more insightful teachers, more innovative teachers. We need teachers to be really active in using the technology in the classroom.”
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Learn about how you can be part of Text2Teach by visiting www.text2teach.org.ph or e-mail info@ayalafoundation.com.ph.
